Michael P. Bannan v. City of Philadelphia et al

February 9, 2012

MICHAEL P. BANNANPLAINTIFF,v.CITY OF PHILADELPHIA ET AL.,DEFENDANTS.

The opinion of the court was delivered by: Legrome D. Davis, J.

MEMORANDUM ORDER

AND NOW, this 9th day of February, 2012, upon consideration of Defendant's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 11), as well as Plaintiff's response in opposition thereto (Doc. No. 12), it is hereby ORDERED that said Motion (Doc. No. 11) is DENIED.

This matter concerns an altercation between Plaintiff Michael P. Bannan ("Plaintiff" or "Bannan") and Defendant Police Officer Hasheem Basil ("Defendant" or "Basil") at a Walmart in the early morning hours of "Black Friday." At approximately 1:30 AM on November 26, 2010, Bannan arrived at Walmart to go shopping with his wife, daughter, and a friend. Walmart had set-up a "cattle chute" fencing system at the front of the store to deal with the expected Black Friday shopping crowds. Bannan and his group walked through the cattle chute but could not find a shopping cart in the store entrance, so Bannan left the store to get one.

Bannan found a cart, and instead of walking through the long, winding cattle chute, Bannan tried to lift the cart over the barrier separating the entrance from the exit at the front of the store. Basil and another police officer, Officer Margaret Donnelly, told Bannan to leave, and Basil grabbed Bannan by the arm and escorted him away from the entrance. In their respective depositions, both Basil and Donnelly stated that they believed Bannan was intoxicated. Bannan disputes that characterization, but admits he drank two (2) beers before leaving his house to go on this shopping excursion.

After the officers told him to leave, Bannan went to his car and waited for about ten (10) minutes. He then decided to head back into the store to go shopping with his family. This time, Bannan followed store procedure and walked through the cattle chute to the store entrance. When Bannan reached the top of the cattle chute, Basil said something to the effect of "What, are you f-ing stupid?", grabbed Bannan's arms, and immediately moved Bannan away from the entrance area. According to Bannan, Basil did not try to stop him through verbal commands before grabbing his arms. Additionally, and importantly, the parties dispute whether Bannan resisted Basil as Basil tried to get him to leave the store. Bannan claims he neither resisted physically nor threatened Basil or anyone else. To the contrary, Basil claims Bannan objected to being moved and stiffened-up, resisting Basil's efforts to lead him away from the store.

In any event, as Basil was shepherding Bannan away from the store entrance, Basil pushed Bannan in the back, causing Bannan to fall to the ground. After he fell, Bannan requested an ambulance and was taken to the hospital.

Bannan subsequently brought this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit, asserting excessive force and false arrest in violation of the Fourth Amendment, as well as supplemental state law claims.

Bannan initially sued the City of Philadelphia as well as Officer Basil, but the parties later stipulated to the voluntary dismissal of all counts against the City. (Doc. No. 10). Defendant Basil now moves for partial summary judgment on Bannan's excessive force claim, essentially arguing that one shove is not excessive as a matter of law. For the reasons below, we deny Basil's motion.

II. Legal Analysis

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a), we must "grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Specifically, summary judgment is appropriate where "the nonmoving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). "The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiff's position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252. As discussed in detail below, the parties in this matter do have a genuine dispute over a fact material to Bannan's excessive force claim, namely, whether Bannan resisted Basil. If we believe Bannan's version of events, which we must at this stage of the proceedings, Basil pushed him to the ground from behind for no good reason. A reasonable jury could find this use of force to be excessive under the circumstances, which precludes summary judgment on Bannan's excessive force claim.

Where, as here, an excessive force claim arises in the context of a stop or arrest of a free citizen, we analyze the situation under a Fourth Amendment rubric. Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 394 (1989). Whether the challenged conduct constitutes excessive force under the Fourth Amendment depends on the objective reasonableness of the conduct, taking into consideration the following factors: the severity of the crime at issue; whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officer or others; whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight; the duration of the officer's action; whether the action takes place in the context of effecting an arrest; the possibility that the suspect may be armed; and the number of persons with whom the police officers must contend at one time. Couden v. Duffy, 446 F.3d 483, 496-97 (3d Cir. 2006) (citing Graham, 490 U.S. at 396, and Sharrar v. Felsing, 128 F.3d 810, 822 (3d Cir.1997), for the aforementioned factors). Given the fact intensive nature of the inquiry, reasonableness "should frequently remain a question for the jury." Kopec v. Tate, 361 F.3d 772, 777 (3d Cir. 2004) (citation omitted).

Defendant correctly points out that "[n]ot every push or shove. . .violates the Fourth Amendment." Graham, 490 U.S. at 396 (citation omitted). However, not every push or shove is permissible, either. See Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 209 (2001) (declaring that "[p]ushes and shoves, like other police conduct, must be judged under the Fourth Amendment standard of reasonableness."). Here, nearly all of the Graham and Sharrar excessive force factors favor Bannan if we take Bannan's factual account as true and draw all reasonable inferences in his favor. Unlike the circumstances envisioned by the Graham Court when it noted that not every push or shove violates the Constitution, Officer Basil was not "forced to make [a] split-second judgment-in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving-about the amount of force that [was] necessary" to escort Bannan from the Walmart. See Graham, 490 U.S. at 397.

Applying the excessive force factors to the matter at hand, the severity of the crime at issue (disorderly conduct, and perhaps public drunkenness) is relatively minor. Bannan did not pose an immediate threat to the safety of anyone. According to Bannan, he did not resist when Basil tried to move him away from the Walmart entrance. At their respective depositions, neither Basil nor Donnelly testified that he or she believed Bannan to be armed and/or dangerous. Finally, this was far from a riot situation. At the time he shoved Bannan, Basil was dealing with Bannan alone. In sum, Bannan presented Basil with a relatively innocuous annoyance. See Couden, 446 F.3d at 497 (noting that "most of these factors-including the potential threat posed by the suspect, whether the suspect was resisting arrest, armed, or attempting to flee, and the ratio of officers to suspects-clearly suggested the use of a low level of force."); Kopec, ...

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